Enter The Associated Press (AP). Its recent deal with the KCNA to open a bureau in North Korea...has put the spotlight on the AP’s much-vaunted credibility as an independent, credible news source. Given the stakes of the event as a template for future cultural diplomacy with the DPRK, we here at SinoNK think it is both appropriate and worthy of all the attention.

"What has been the whole outcome of these drone attacks is that you have directly or indirectly contributed to destabilizing or undermining the democratic government. Because people really make fun of the democratic government – when you pass a resolution against drone attacks in the parliament and nothing happens. The Americans don't listen to you, and they continue to violate your territory," he said.

South Korea faces off against the northern neighbor it is still technically at war with at Olympic table tennis on Saturday in what is sure to be one of the most politically charged contests at London 2012. Uncertainty about secretive North Korea and its new leader and rumored development of nuclear weapons have created a tense backdrop for the six players preparing to meet in the team event.

"Culture does matter,” insisted aspiring Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on his return from a three nation trip abroad this week. Readers of Culture Posts and Winnowing Fan surely share the belief. Yet Mr. Romney's words, first spoken at a political fundraiser in Jerusalem's King David hotel, shocked our sensibilities. How and where he spoke the words "culture makes all the difference" revealed the limits of his world. The Culture Post series began with the intent to explore the cultural underbelly of public diplomacy.

“One often makes a remark and only later sees how true it is.” Ludwig Wittgenstein

There's a strange sense of deja vu in Jamaica at the moment. Bunting adorns buildings. Roadside vendors sell the national flag. Patriotic songs are on everyone's lips, and breasts swell with pride. Politicians are enjoying a holiday from scrutiny as citizens tune in to Usain Bolt and the gang chasing Olympic glory in London. It's 6 August 1962 all over again.

Waitresses walk past in Swiss lederhosen. ‘Carbivores’ chow down on traditional Swiss potato cakes. And images on the walls depict trains climbing the Alps in the Bernese Oberland. But this isn’t a scene from a Swiss tourism pamphlet. It’s a typical afternoon in a converted English pub—normally known as the Mudlark—a few meters from the London Bridge Tube Station.

The first week of the Olympics may have provided us with enough drama and sensation to last a lifetime but, for many, the real theatre of the Games is only just beginning. Today the classic track and field events begin, including several sports that the Ancient Greeks would have recognised.